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How to Choose Relevant Financial Literacy Plans

Record debt, skyrocketing foreclosures and a large number of people suffering from financial stress…sound familiar? Many of the problems people face today could have been avoided if they had received a practical financial education.

Teens and young adults tend to learn more from practical financial literacy lesson plans. Having a practical financial literacy curriculum as support will help you teach important guidelines to your child. This allows them to be more financially responsible in the way they deal with everyday finances as well as long-term expenses. It is essential that you instill your spending habits in your children in order to get the ready for their financial independence.

Many schools have started offering a financial literacy curriculum to their students, either in the form of economics classes or classes geared specifically towards preparing students financial responsibility in college or independent living.

In light of the current financial situation it is vital that we arm our young people with the financial information they need to be successful in the financial real world. If you want to make a lifelong difference in a child’s quality of life then choose an engaging and relevant financial literacy course. But, how do you choose a financial literacy curriculum that students will actually implement? That is the question that will be answered in this article.

Studies indicate that less than adequate financial training has a negative effect on students. They report boredom and confusion which in turn turns them off to learning more about money matters. The instructors had good intentions when they begin implementing the financial education course; regrettably, the financial lesson plans had a negative effect instead.

To ensure your financial education class makes a lasting difference in students lives it is important you choose a financial literacy curriculum that are designed to keep the students engaged and motivated to learn more. The following are seven ways to help you choose the most effective financial literacy lesson plans in order to help your students live a life of financial freedom.

1) Review the Curriculum Designers Background. Most financial literacy curriculum is written by people who have not had significant money or business experience. Make sure the financial education lesson plans you choose have been designed by a team of experienced professionals. Look for curriculum that is developed by a team of financially successful entrepreneurs and teachers that have a track record of curriculum development experience. Finding a curriculum that combines top teachers with business leaders will put you immediately on the right track.

2) Find Curriculum that Motivates & Educates. Having reviewed hundreds of financial literacy lesson plans and talked to thousands of youth many of them have been turned off ‘learning about money’. Many students have complained about past financial literacy classes being boring and confusing. A well designed financial literacy curriculum, taught properly, can be a rewarding and entertaining experience. A good test is to review the curriculum late at night and see if it passes the snooze test.

3) Find Lesson Plans that Grow with Students. In a perfect world financial lessons would be taught over time and your students would build their money skills over time. Since this is a luxury most educators will not receive, it is important to choose curriculum that builds on the prior lessons and covers the key principles that make up the foundation knowledge of their education.

4) Lesson Plans Cover the Mental Game of Money. Talk to any financially successful person out there and the majority will agree that the mental game of money serves as a foundation for our financial decisions. It is also well documented that the average person makes most of their financial decisions because of emotional responses, not logic. That is why it is critical that the financial literacy curriculum you choose covers the mental game of money.

5) Financial Success Training Curriculum. The ultimate goal of financial literacy lesson plans is to help our youth reach the level of financial success they desire. Implementing curriculum that focused on providing real world money lessons will not only keep students interested but will also put them on track to achieving financial security.

6) Practical Education before Theory Based Memorization. While the more advanced financial theories should be taught it is important to emphasize practical financial lessons that translate to the real world for students. The advanced theories will can be taught once the practical financial curriculum has been mastered. Considering the fact that over 40 million Americans do not have bank accounts, locate curriculum that walks students step-by-step through basic account structure and includes activities that helps to build their financial foundation.

7) Teach with Entertaining & Engaging Curriculum. By the time a student graduates high school many have sat through more than 10,000 classes. There is not much time to teach financial literacy, so it is exceptionally important that it stands out from the thousands of other lectures students must sit through. Choose curriculum that engages the students with activities, multi-media, celebrities, movement, props and other tools to help our students internalize financial literacy lesson plans so they benefit from this knowledge throughout their life.

Maximize the effectiveness of your time and financial literacy class by getting financial literacy curriculum designed to get students excited to learn about money. The confidence that a practical financial education can bring to students will have long-term positive benefits that affect many area of your student’s life.